Unlock Disabled iPhone 12 mini Using iTunes or macOS Finder

Of course, there is an official way that Apple provides for users to restore device firmware using iTunes or macOS Finder. For this, iPhone 12 mini is put under Recovery Mode manually and Finder or iTunes is used to reinstall software on it directly from Apple. This process is fine for people who are conversant in tech, since this process can throw up a lot of errors that are just numbers, and people can get confused as to what they mean, resulting in frustration.

• Step 1: Connect your iPhone 12 mini to a Windows/ macOS device and launch iTunes. If you are on a Mac that runs macOS Catalina or higher, open Finder since you would not have access to iTunes anymore.

• Step 2: Pick your iPhone 12 mini and do the following:

  • (2.1) Press the volume up button and let it go.
  • (2.2) Press the volume down button and let it go.
  • (2.3) Press the Side Button (power button, on the right side of your iPhone 12 mini) and keep it pressed till Finder or iTunes detects the phone in Recovery Mode.

• Step 3: Choose Restore to download and reinstall the latest iOS on your iPhone 12 mini and unlock your iPhone 12 mini.

When the iPhone 12 mini reboots, it will be reset to factory settings, and you can set it up again as you did when brand new.

Unlock Disabled iPhone 12 mini Using iCloud Website

unlock your disabled iPhone 12 mini is using the iCloud website to gain access back. This is a fairly easy way and doesn’t require going through complex hoops.

Find My is available both online via the iCloud website and on iOS devices and on Macs. In case the only Apple product you own is the currently disabled iPhone 12 mini, you can use Find My on the iCloud website from any other computer you may have to unlock your disabled iPhone 12 mini.

• Step 1: Visit https://icloud.com and log in into the same iCloud account/ Apple ID as the disabled iPhone 12 mini.

• Step 2: Go to Find My, select your iPhone 12 mini.

• Step 3: Click Erase iPhone and confirm.

This will start the wipe process on your iPhone remotely and your iPhone will be reset to factory settings. You can now proceed to setup your iPhone once again.

Prevent iPhone From Getting Disabled Again

After all this to get access back, you might think let’s go passcode-less and prevent the hassle. Don’t do that - that’s worse and unsafe. Instead, here are tips you can use to make sure you don’t accidentally disable your iPhone 12 mini again.

• Tip 1: About Passcodes

1.1 Set a passcode that is easier to remember for you but difficult to think of for thieves and others.
1.2 Never use birthdates, years, vehicle numbers or any such numbers that may be easily tried by others.
1.3 Never use repeating numbers.
1.4 Do not use your ATM PIN as your phone passcode either. Think of some digits or combination that makes sense to you and only you. And then use it.

• Tip 2: Use Face ID

Along with Passcode comes the option of Face ID on your iPhone 12 mini, so use that. That will minimize instances for you to enter your passcode, and may make you forget it again, though. So, make sure that the passcode you set does make sense to you and you can remember it always without effort.

Not all of us have the memory of elephants. With Touch ID and Face ID on our iPhones minimizing the use of passcodes, we may forget them. Another factor in forgetting passcodes is being too smart for our own good and trying to set up such a secure passcode that even we are not able to remember it. If we enter incorrect passcode too many times, the iPhone disables itself and we need to restore it to factory settings to unlock it again. There are several ways to do that, depending on the time you are willing to spend on the job and your proficiency level, along with the resources that you have with you right now. For example, if a method requires use of another iOS device and you do not have it, that method is not useful to you right now, pick another. Lastly, when the device is reset, instead of going passcode-less to make sure that you do not forget the passcode again, it is best to set up a passcode that you can somehow remember.

Unlock Disabled iPhone 12 mini Without A Computer

here are millions in the world who do not use the traditional computer so to speak. They have entered the post-PC era as they say, and their needs are met without a regular desktop or a laptop. They live wirelessly. They travel the world. Are you one of them? How would you unlock disabled iPhone 12 mini with no desktop/ laptop computer around? You have a few options.

You can use your other iOS device with Find My iPhone app to unlock your disabled iPhone 12 mini or you can use the iCloud website from your other device and Find iPhone app to unlock your disabled iPhone 12 mini.

The second option is to get a loaner device from someone you know. A loaner device is a device you borrow from someone to use for a purpose and return it when you are done with it. In this case, you can ask for a computer from someone you know and use it to unlock your disabled iPhone 12 mini and return the device back. That way, you can use iTunes or macOS Finder if you’re more favorable to using that method.

When using a computer, the simplest, easiest, most flexible, and robust method to unlock disabled iPhone 12 mini is using third-party tools such as Dr.Fone – Screen Unlock (iOS). However, Dr.Fone is not just for troubleshooting and unlocking your disabled devices. Dr.Fone is like that multi-utility knife that can do a variety of things.

Using Dr.Fone you can not only unlock your iPhone 12 mini with ease, you can also use it periodically as a backup and restore tool that gives power in your hands. How does it do that? When you launched Dr.Fone , you had several modules to choose from and you chose Screen Unlock to unlock your disabled device. Instead of that, you can choose the Phone Backup module to backup and restore data from and to your device. Why would you use a third-party tool to backup and restore?

As you may be aware, using iTunes or macOS Finder allows you to backup and restore data onto your iPhone easily, but, the one glaring omission here is that it does not allow you to choose what you want to backup and what you want to restore. This is a much-coveted feature that is glaringly absent from the Apple world so far, and with Dr.Fone ‘s iOS Phone Backup feature you can have that choice in your hands, just like you do with Android. Dr.Fone allows you to choose what you want to backup, so, you can back up just your photos, just your text messages, just your files, or any combination thereof, for the matter. And, when it comes to restore, you can restore selectively as well. So, suppose you backed up your entire data using Dr.Fone , now you can restore just the text messages if you so want.

Unlock Disabled iPhone 12 mini Without iTunes/ iCloud

We know and understand that the word troubleshooting can remind you of long telephone calls with support or making appointments and driving down to specialists and spending obscene amounts of money to get solutions. You do not want that. How about a way you could unlock your iPhone 12 mini in a simple, 1-click way instead?

Dr.Fone - Screen Unlock (iOS) is a tool that can help you unlock your iPhone 12 mini without iTunes or iCloud. It is a simple and easy-to-use tool that can help you unlock your iPhone 12 mini in a few minutes. It is a safe and reliable tool that can help you unlock your iPhone 12 mini without any data loss. It is compatible with all iOS devices and all versions of iOS. It is a simple and easy-to-use tool that can help you unlock your iPhone 12 mini in a few minutes. It is a safe and reliable tool that can help you unlock your iPhone 12 mini without any data loss. It is compatible with all iOS devices and all versions of iOS.

• Step 1: Launch Dr.Fone and click the module titled "Screen Unlock"

• Step 2: Choose the "iOS" option, then select "Unlock iOS Screen" on the subsequent screen to continue unlocking your iPhone 12 mini.

• Step 3: Follow the provided instructions to start the disabled iPhone 12 mini in Recovery Mode to unlock it. If for any reason the phone does not boot in Recovery Mode, there are instructions provided at the bottom to enter what is called DFU mode.

• Step 4: Dr.Fone will read and display your phone model and the software installed on it. If the model displayed is incorrect, use the dropdown to pick the correct detail. Click "Start" to download the specific firmware file for your particular iPhone 12 mini model.

• Step 5: After the download completes, please click Unlock Now to start unlocking the disabled iPhone 12 mini.

Your iPhone 12 mini will be unlocked in a short span of time. Please note that all data would have been wiped out from the device. When you set the device up again, if you set it to use iCloud, data such as Contacts, iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive data, etc. will be downloaded onto your device again. The apps you had on your iPhone 12 mini prior to it getting disabled can be downloaded again from the App Store. If you did not use iCloud but backed up the data manually, you will have to manually restore that data onto the device again.

Unlock Disabled iPhone 12 mini Using Find My iPhone App

There are times you have another iOS device in the family or just lying around, you can use that device to unlock your disabled iPhone 12 mini. This method is particularly useful if you’re traveling with family or alone, and only have family members with their own iOS devices or, say, your iPad with you. As always, note that all these methods will wipe your data from your iPhone.

• Step 1: Open the Find My app on your other iOS device or Mac.

• Step 2: Select your disabled iPhone 12 mini from the devices from the left pane, click/ tap your disabled iPhone 12 mini and click/ tap Erase This Device

The disabled iPhone will be wiped and reset to factory settings. You can then set it up again.

How to Set Up Face ID on Your iPhone 12 mini

Sometimes, you may just want to disable Face ID temporarily or the issue gets solved, and want to activate Face ID again. Setting up a Face ID on your iPhone 12 mini is easy. To set up Face ID, sit in a comfortable spot with adequate lighting and follow these steps:

• Step 1: Go to Settings > Face ID and Passcode and enter your passcode. If you have not set up a passcode yet, you will necessarily have to create one now before proceeding forward.

• Step 2: Tap Set Up Face ID to start the process.

• Step 3: Hold your iPhone 12 mini in the portrait orientation at about an arm‘s length away from your face and then tap Get Started.

• Step 4: Adjust to have your face inside the shown circle and then slowly rotate your head in a smooth motion to complete the circle. This step will be done one more time.

• Step 5: When done, tap Done.

In case you are getting the following error:

There are a few things you can try to resolve this, you can try to update your iPhone 12 mini to the latest iOS. At this point, you may even try running a beta version to see if that helps. If you are running a beta version, you may downgrade back to the release version to see if that resolves the error. Betas can both make and break things.

If this does not resolve it, you need to take the device to the nearest service center. The TrueDepth camera system has components that might have been damaged or might not be working properly, for whatever reason, and the service personnel is equipped to resolve this issue for you at the earliest.

How to Remove Face ID on iPhone 12 mini

For all the hardware and software that make for a great experience for nearly all users around the world, Face ID can have its fair share of issues. Sometimes, your face might not get recognized, sometimes it might not work altogether.

Lately, with the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen how Face ID struggles to work for us, and why? Because it cannot scan our faces with masks! So, it makes sense to remove Face ID from our iPhones and rely solely on passcodes. Alternatively, you want to reset your Face ID on your iPhone 12 mini and set it again if you have put on some ‘COVID weight’ owing to working from home.

Most of the time, the best and the simplest thing you can do to resolve your hardware and software issues is to restart the device in question. To restart your iPhone 12 mini, long-press the Side Button until the power slider appears and drag it to shut the device off. Then, use the Side Button to start the phone again.

Sometimes, the issues have a way of persisting, and a restart does not resolve them. the TrueDepth system might have developed a fault and Face ID might stop working. Or you got the dreaded “problem detected with TrueDepth camera” message on your iPhone 12 mini. In that case, you would like to know how to reset and remove Face ID on your iPhone 12 mini to see if that helps, before you are required to go to an Apple Store for service.

• Step 1: Go to Settings > Face ID and Passcode.

• Step 2: Scroll and tap the option "Reset Face ID" to remove Face ID on your iPhone iPhone 12 mini.

What is Face ID?

Face ID is a facial recognition system designed and developed by Apple Inc. for the iPhone and iPad Pro. The system allows biometric authentication for unlocking a device, making payments, and accessing sensitive data, as well as providing detailed facial mapping for augmented reality applications.

If the new iPhone 15/14/13 is your first-ever iPhone, or if you have neither upgraded your iPhone from the 6/7/8 series nor have kept abreast with the happenings in the Apple world, you might wonder what this newfangled thing called Face ID is.

Face ID is an authentication system that came with iPhone X for the first time, and then the iPhone 13, the iPhone 14, and now the iPhone 15. Like Touch ID that uses your fingerprints, Face ID uses your face metrics to authenticate you for everything, the way Touch ID does.

Face ID is not a new and advanced version of Touch ID, but a completely different authentication system that utilizes a different component what Apple calls a TrueDepth camera to scan your face metrics. Face ID is not available on phones with Touch ID (iPhone SE 2022 today) and Touch ID is not available on iPhones that come with Face ID as their authentication mechanism.

Face ID is not just for unlocking your iPhone, but it is also used for authenticating you for Apple Pay, App Store purchases, and other third-party apps that support Face ID. It is also used for autofilling passwords and usernames in Safari and other apps.

What Can You Do with Face ID?

Most of us know that we can unlock iPhone 12 mini with our face via Face ID instead of a thumbprint or passcode. But actually, Face ID does more than just that. Let us learn more cool things you can do with Face ID, which helps you to make a decision if you still want to disable it. Here‘s what you can do on your iPhone 12 mini with Face ID:

Unlock Your iPhone 12 mini

As an authentication mechanism, Face ID enables you to unlock your iPhone 12 mini with a look. How to do that? Here are the steps:

• Step1: Pick your iPhone 12 mini up in your hands or tap the screen to wake it up.
• Step2: Look at the iPhone.
  When the lock symbol changes to the unlocked position, you can swipe up to unlock your iPhone 12 mini using Face ID and get to the Home Screen.Note that Face ID will not work in landscape mode on an iPhone 12 mini.

Making Purchases Using Face ID on Your iPhone 12 mini

Face ID allows you to authenticate yourself to make purchases in the App Store, Book Store, and iTunes Store and use Apple Pay wherever supported.

Lowering Ringer and Alarm Volume Automatically

Face ID also enables what Apple calls Attention Aware features that are conveniences afforded to users who have a Face ID enabled iPhone.

Click here


Setting up and using Attention Aware features is easy:

• Step 1: Go to Settings > Face ID and passcode.

• Step 2: Toggle Require Attention For Face ID On.

• Step 3: Toggle Attention Aware Features On.

That’s it. Now, when you get a call and your iPhone 12 mini is ringing loud, looking at your iPhone 12 mini will cause it to lower the volume. When an alarm goes off, you can lower the volume by simply looking at your iPhone. Additionally, your iPhone screen will not dim or switch off for the duration you are looking at it. This means you can now read those books on Kindle without constantly tapping the screen for it to stay awake.

Autofill Passwords and Usernames in Safari and Other Apps

Face ID also allows users to fill passwords in Safari automatically for a faster and more convenient login experience on your iPhone 15/14/13 with Face ID.

Step 1: Go to Settings > Face ID and Passcode and toggle Password Autofill On.

Step 2: Now, when you use Safari to open a website that requires a login, tapping the username field or password field will bring up the keyboard, and on top of that keyboard there will be your credentials for the website if you have saved them in iCloud Passwords. Tap the credentials.

Step 3: Look at your iPhone to authenticate yourself with Face ID and Safari will autofill the credentials for you.

Authenticate Yourself for Third-Party Apps

Face ID is also used for authenticating you for third-party apps that support Face ID. This means you can use Face ID to authenticate yourself for banking apps, password managers, and other apps that support Face ID.

Animojis and Memojis

Up until now, we saw how Face ID enables productivity features and how convenient it is to use it. Now, we come to the fun part - Animojis. Apple launched Face ID in 2017 on the iPhone X with much fanfare and a huge part of that fanfare was Animojis. Over time, Apple brought new capabilities to the iPhone and added Memojis alongside Animojis.

Animojis are animated emojis. These are made possible with advanced algorithms enabled by the TrueDepth camera in Face ID. Animated emojis or Animojis can mimic your facial expressions and you can use them in your message conversations in apps.

Here‘s how to send Animojis in conversations on your new iPhone 12 mini:

Step 1: Open a message conversation in the Messages app.

Step 2: Tap the Memoji button (a character in a yellow frame) and swipe to select the desired Animoji/ Memoji you want to send.

Step 3: Tap the Record button and you now have 30 seconds to do what you want with your face and the character will reproduce it on screen for you.

Step 4: When done, the Record button changes to Send:

Tap Send to send your first Memoji/ Animoji.

How to Unlock Apple ID on iPhone 12 mini

It is unfortunate you are facing a locked Apple ID. Apple tries its best to make users aware of safety protocols they need to follow to minimize and mitigate such unfortunate occurrences, such as using two-factor authentication, trusted devices, trusted phone numbers, passwords, passcodes, etc. that serve as deterrents to prevent unauthorized access to devices and accounts. Yet, when the unfortunate happens, what to do?

Here are the steps to unlock your Apple ID:

Unlock Apple ID Via Two-Factor Authentication

Apple implemented two-factor authentication a long time ago to prevent unauthorized access to Apple ID accounts. If you have it enabled, you would be able to use two-factor authentication to unlock your Apple ID again.

• Step 1: Go to https://iforgot.apple.com .

• Step 2: Key in your Apple ID and proceed.

• Step 3: Confirm your mobile number associated with the Apple ID.

If you have another device associated with the Apple ID and it is a trusted device, you can now receive instructions to proceed with a two-factor code on that device.

• Step 4: Use that code to unlock your Apple ID using two-factor authentication.

Unlock Apple ID Via a third party tool

Dr.Fone is a name that will be instantly familiar to anyone who has ever had any issue with their mobile devices and would be able to vouch for the quality and efficacy of this software at fixing issues quickly and efficiently.

Dr.Fone is a collection of carefully crafted modules that helps you when most needed. Ranging from helping you wipe your devices securely with Data Eraser to maintain your privacy when you sell your device or give it to service and helping you erase not just junk on your device but also user data such as SMS (whether single or batch) to free up some space on your iPhone 12 mini, to Phone Transfer that helps you to easily transfer data you’re your old phone to your new iPhone 13 including restoring from iCloud Backups, Dr.Fone is a venerable utility from Wondershare that does it all and lives up to its name. Naturally, this tool was designed to help you unlock your Apple ID as well.

• Step 1: Download Dr.Fone .

• Step 2: Launch Dr.Fone and select the Screen Unlock module.

• Step 3: Click Unlock Apple ID to start the process.

• Step 4: Connect your device to the computer and wait for Dr.Fone - Screen Unlock (iOS) to detect it. You must know the passcode of your device.

Click here


You will be asked on your iPhone 12 mini to Trust the computer, and then you will need to enter the passcode.

• Step 5: Unlocking Apple ID via Dr.Fone - Screen Unlock (iOS) will erase the contents of the device. You need to confirm this by typing six zeroes (000 000) in the popup.

• Step 6: Follow the on-screen instructions to reset all your settings on the iPhone and then reboot to start the unlocking process.

Dr.Fone - Screen Unlock (iOS) will notify you when the process is complete.

Activation Lock Primer

Apple products are costly, and they are prized. When a 5-year-old Android device might be left alone without anyone stealing it, you cannot risk that with an iPhone 6S, even today. Apple has built an Activation Lock in its devices to deter theft and so far, as we know, it has largely succeeded. If your iPhone 12 mini 13 gets stolen, no one else can use it with their Apple ID unless they key in the credentials it was using previously (your credentials) and, even then, Apple has bolstered iCloud Find My Activation Lock to be more restrictive. You may have to key in a lot of information ranging from your device password (if you are also using the same Apple ID on a Mac) to your iOS device passcode too, obviously, your Apple ID password. It is a system that works in favor of Apple users.

Yet, in some cases, users want to get around the Activation Lock for genuine reasons, say, when you buy a used Apple device from someone. They may have forgotten to remove that device from their Apple account and Activation Lock would not let you use it. Or, you are an IT administrator, and you manage devices given out to employees. Some employees did not remove their accounts from their devices, and now those iPhones are riddled with Activation Lock. You can remove it using this step-by-step guide.